As I foreshadowed in late October, hard copies of Altar of Freedom are once again available in printed, book format. I needed to find an easy printing solution that also solved issues with international distribution and am pleased to say that Lulu.com answered those problems nicely. Lulu is a print-on-demand service that ships around the world. There are some other POD services out there and I communicated with several of them and ran proof copies at two. In the end, Lulu fulfilled orders faster and with a nicer product. You can now order a print copy of the rules directly from Lulu's site and have it shipped to you within a week.

The return of the print version of the rules will no doubt lead to some questions for players who may have already purchased a copy before. To find out what's different and what's the same, read on below.

Is this a second edition?

Not really. The cover page of the new book says "Second Edition, October 2016," but if you already own a copy of Altar of Freedom--either an original print version or a PDF--there are no rule changes in the new print copy. All the mechanics of the game remain unchanged, the four scenarios in the back are the same, and all the appendix material is identical. I did correct a few minor spelling errors in this print copy and all of the new errata you find on the Free Downloads page are reflected in the new book.

So what's different?

Switching to a new printer did result in a few minor changes to the book itself. Instead of a matte finish double-sided cover, the covers are now glossy and single-sided. Inside the book, all pages are black and white. If you purchased one of the original books, you'll notice that about 8 pages are in color. My original printer, a local outfit, allowed me to run a few particular pages in color, but all the POD services I contacted in the last six months are "all or nothing" for color. Therefore, the new print edition is entirely black and white on the interior pages. Otherwise, the book remains the same--the content, layout, formatting, front cover artwork, and black spiral binding.

What about the PDFs?

Nothing has changed with the PDFs. The main rules and both scenario supplements are still exclusively available for PDF download with Wargames Vault, where they've been for the last year. I've been very happy with the service and support offered at Wargames Vault and we sell a lot of PDFs there.

Where can I buy the new book?

If you already own a print copy of Altar of Freedom, there really is no need for you to buy the second print run. But if you only have a PDF and would like the print copy, or if you don't yet own the rules at all, you can order as many copies as you want directly from Lulu. They print your order right away and ship it anywhere in the world.

And when your copy arrives from Lulu, it will look like "unboxing" photo you see here.

What's next?

To celebrate the return of print copy availability, we have lots of new content lined up at 6mmACW.com. This will include some fresh AARs, a new free scenario available for download, and a brand new terrain tutorial. In fact, the first new AAR just went "live" today! It's a photo-filled recap of our club's recent Antietam scenario. The rest of our new free content will be rolling out over the coming weeks.

I'm new to AoF and am wondering if the PDFs at Wargame Vault have been updated with the errata as well? Or are the errata pages formatted to "paste over" their appropriate sections in the book? Thank you!

Reply

Andy Fuller

11/28/2016 11:55:37 pm

Decided to get a nice pristine printed copy as Lulu were having a Cyber Monday event. Win-win!